[music] Welcome.
This animation introduces physical domains and describes how they enhance the virtualization
solutions in Oracle's SPARC M5-32 and SPARC M6-32 servers.
From the rear of the server, you can see that the hardware resources are divided into four
groups called domain configurable units, or DCUs.
Each DCU contains processors and memory, PCIe expansion slots, integrated network ports,
and integrated storage.
DCUs provide the building blocks of physical domains.
A physical domain operates as an independent server that has full hardware isolation from
the other physical domains in the server.
You can divide the server into one to four physical domains to suit your application
requirements.
For example, you can combine all of the DCUs into a single physical domain that contains
all of the available hardware resources.
Another configuration option is to divide the server into four physical domains, each
containing one DCU and running its own operating system and applications for different organizations
in your company.
Once the server has been divided into physical domains, you can add hardware or even restart
a single physical domain without affecting the operation of the other physical domains
in the server.
DCUs and physical domains enable you to plan for future growth and expansion when needed.
The server chassis includes processor and I/O slots for four DCUs; however, you can
purchase a server with a minimum of eight processors and configure them into either
one or two physical domains as shown here.
At a future time, you can purchase additional processor and I/O options to populate the
remaining DCUs.
You can then increase your hardware resources by combining these new DCUs to existing physical
domains.
As this example shows, DCU 2 and DCU 3 can be added to physical domain 1, while physical
domain 0 continues to operate without interruption.
Located at the front of the server, the scalability switch boards provide the capability to combine
DCUs into larger physical domains.
The scalability switch boards provide a global interconnect that joins all of the processors
together and enables them to communicate with each other.
This global interconnect enables you to configure the server into a single symmetric multiprocessor
system containing up to 32 processors and up to 32 terabytes of shared system memory.
A bounded physical domain is a second type of physical domain available.
Bounded physical domains do not access the global interconnect provided by the scalability
switch boards, so bounded physical domains provide increased isolation from the other
physical domains in the server.
Bounded physical domains also accommodate additional hardware configurations.
For example, a bounded physical domain can operate successfully with only two processors
where regular physical domains require at least four processors.
Bounded physical domains are limited to a single DCU, so you cannot combine two or more
DCUs to make a larger bounded physical domain.
A single server can contain a mix of bounded a regular physical domains.
Physical domains enable you to isolate specified hardware from other hardware in the system.
Beyond physical domains the server fully supports Oracle's other virtualization solutions including
the Oracle VM Server for SPARC software and Oracle Solaris 11 Zones.
Each physical domain can be divided further using the Oracle VM Server for SPARC software,
which is bundled with the server.
The Oracle VM Server for SPARC software enables you to create virtual servers called logical
domains, which run their own independent operating systems and use a configurable portion of
the available server resources.
Each logical domain can be created, reconfigured, and rebooted independently.
When assigning logical domains along processor core boundaries you can create up to 384 logical
domains in a SPARC M6-32 and 192 logical domains in a SPARC M5-32 server.
Use Oracle VM Server for SPARC logical domains to isolate an operating system from other
operating systems running within a physical domain.
Oracle Solaris Zones, which are included with the preinstalled Oracle Solaris operating
system, provide further virtualization opportunities.
Each Oracle Solaris Zone contains a controlled environment through which you can allocate
the exact resources an application requires.
Use Oracle Solaris Zones to isolate an application from other applications running in the same
logical domain.
You can create thousands of Oracle Solaris Zones within a single Oracle Solaris OS instance.
Using a combination of physical domains, Oracle VM Server for SPARC logical domains, and Oracle
Solaris Zones you can partition the server's resources to best suit the demands of your
environment and applications.
Check out the following links for more information about physical domains and the available virtualization
options.
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